


Birds of a Feather

by CosmosCuriosity (orphan_account)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Beauregard POV, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Five Years Later, Gen, I promise I won't kill off any PCs, May not be canon compliant, evil Caleb (for now), romance takes backseat, tags will be added as work updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 21:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/CosmosCuriosity
Summary: Beauregard Lionett is the head monk of the Cobalt Soul trying to stop a war before all hell breaks loose (literally).Bren Aldric Ermendrud is an Archmage of the Dwendalian Empire, leading his country into battle, so sure of his righteousness.5 years ago, they were teammates, party members, and friends.What happened?Thanks to my amazing beta reader @iamnotanangel on Tumblr!





	1. Chapter 1

A heavy fog choked the forest, surrounding the trees and brush with a coat of white. The skies, covered by the purple-brown leaves of the trees, were a clear blue. It was as if all the clouds had come down to meet the earth below. In the distance, the roar of two armies pierced the landscape. Through the mist, five people stalked towards the carnage.

“Beau, are you really sure we want to go through a battle for this? It’s so dangerous!” Nott whispered.

Beau put up her hand. “We've been tracking this regiment for days. Somebody in there has been responsible for some of the strange magical occurrences going on. This is the best time to take them out.”

“In and out. Find who's responsible, defend yourself if you have too,” Fjord commanded, grabbing his longsword. Nodding to the rest of him to follow, he jumped into the fray of the battle just ahead of them.

As soon as Beau ran in, a human soldier jumped out of the thick fog and raised his longsword and brought it down on her before she swiftly dodged out of the way and used the opportunity to tackle the soldier to the ground, his head cracking against a sharp rock, hidden on the ground. Beau glanced nervously around her to see Caduceus clash his staff onto the ground, slippery with blood and mud, summoning spirit guardians to protect him. Through the swarm, bolts of green energy extended from Fjord’s hand, disintegrating the body of a dwarf who had injured him with a heavy blow to the shoulder. 

Beau’s attention was immediately brought back to the enemies in front of her when a soldier managed to smash his morningstar into her side, leaving her skin ripped and bloody. She wheeled around and gave him two kicks to his face, knocking him dead to the ground. As a volley of arrows slung through the air towards her, she reached out to catch one, but several of the others peppered her chest and back before she could stop them. 

Beau cursed under her breath. Normally she would be able to handle this, but these soldiers struck with unusual quickness, landing blows before she could fully realize that they were there. She ripped an arrow out of her side and skewered a woman in scale mail beside her with it before reeling her arm back to land a punch on the side of her jaw, leaving the woman’s body limp in her grasp. Through the veil of fog, more arrows flew at her as she attempted to roll out of the way. As she did so, realization dawned on her that this blinding fog might not be natural, but of magical origin.

“Guys!” She cried out, jumping into a defensive position. “I think there’s a mage assisting these soldiers!” As soon as the words left her mouth, the ground at Nott’s feet erupted in searing flame, sending her piercing scream through the battlefield. Beau looked up to see a human man with the armor and badges of a low-level officer bring his greatsword down on her knee, sending blistering pain throughout her leg. She brought her fist to his mouth, pummeling his face with extraordinary speed, hoping to remove the threat. However, he remained standing and tackled her to the ground, slicing her arms and shoulders in the process, turning her blue vestiges of the Cobalt Soul a deep purple. She leaned up and grabbed his neck, cracking her forehead into his own, stunning him. She kicked him off her and brought her good leg down onto his jugular, knocking him out for good.

Her thoughts raced through her head. How was this soldier able to land so many hits on her? Objectively, he did not have much martial prowess, at least not enough to connect as much as he did. He seemed to be… luckier. Beau shrugged off the thought, finding herself back-to-back with Jester, who had her lollipop out and was crushing her enemies with divine light. The soldiers crowded around them, and suddenly Beau felt a scorching beam of lightning impact through her chest before jumping to Jester right next to her. Beau heard a shriek of pain and shock from her, who seemed to take the brunt of it.

“We gotta take out that damn mage,” Beau yelled. Jester nodded and grabbed her hand. Suddenly the two were sent flying through the air to the back lines, among hostile archers knocking arrows into their longbows. For a brief second they saw a mage in the distance before he threw up a wall of fire, obstructing their view of him.

“Beau!” Jester shouted. “You go ahead, I'll take out these guys over here!”  
Beau smiled and ran towards the wall of roaring fire, pushing through the troops before leaping over the licking flames. As she reached the ground, she realized she had fallen farther than she had thought landing prone on the ground, mud on her face.

“Beauregard?”

Beau looked up to see a clean-shaven man with cropped red hair in the robes of the Cerberus Assembly standing twenty feet from her. In his hand he held motes of fire he was readying to send into the fray.

She scrambled to her feet. “Caleb!” She screamed, running towards him. He stepped back, keeping his distance. “Caleb!” She repeated, extending her hand for him to come with her.

It had been years since she had last seen him. They had been hiding in the Empire, preparing for an assassination of some of the leaders of the Cerberus Assembly, including Trent Ikithon. “Take out the cancer, save the whole,” he had told her. But when they snuck into the institution, the Vollstreckers we're ready for them. The young wizards  
overpowered them quickly. In the chaos, Caleb had stepped forward and offered himself up, ordering the rest of the Mighty Nein to flee lest they get killed. Beau had promised she would come back for him, but no matter how hard they tried, Caleb was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was killed. Maybe something worse. 

But now her old friend was in front of her, and she wanted him to come home. “Caleb! Is that… is that really you?”

The man stared back at her like a feral cat. “I do not go by that name anymore.”

Beau shook her head. “Bren. Please. We can save you. I can save you now. It's okay.”

For a moment, she could almost see his expression of hostility waver for a moment. “From what, Beauregard? I have already been saved. You people have done nothing but weaken me.”

Beau shook her head, disbelieving. “Caleb, what are you talking about? You sacrificed yourself to save us!” He extinguished the motes of fire in his hands and Beau noticed the purple rings under his eyes.

“And then you left me.”

“We didn't have any-”

Caleb raised his hand, silencing her. “Let me speak. I should thank you, really. I was weak before. I could not handle the test I was given.”

“You mean killing your parents?” Beau spat. “You know they were innocent.”

Caleb froze up. “It was a test. I failed. I will not do so again.”

Beau clenched her fists, nails digging into her skin. “I can't believe you're being fucking brainwashed. Again.”

“And you believe you are not being fed lies by the Cobalt Soul and the Dynasty? At least I now have the influence to learn anything I desire.”

“Look, I'm not claiming to know everything. Far from it, actually. But it’s clear to me that you’re being magically influenced into feeling this way; misremembering things. Please.” 

He stayed silent.

Beau ran up to him and grabbed his arm. “Caleb, please.” Caleb tried to tug his hand away but to no avail. Around her, Beau heard the shouts of retreating soldiers nearing them. “We can help you.”

“Miss Lionett, I believe you are mistaken.” Caleb sneered before spitting in her eye. As soon as Beau looked up, Caleb was gone and she was surrounded by a sea of fleeing troops.

“Beau!” She heard Jester's voice cry out. She felt her hand grab her wrist and pull her away. Jester pushed against the flow of the armies, dragging Beau behind her until they caught up with the rest of the Mighty Nein. The group ran back into the forest, hiding under some brush.

“Beau, what happened?” Jester asked, putting a hand on her shoulder

Beau shrugged off Jester's hand and took a few steps back, staring at the ground. “I…”

Jester sighed. “It's okay, Beau. If you don't feel okay you can tell us later.”

Beau shook her head. “No…”

“So what did you-”

“Caleb.”

“What?”

“I saw Caleb, okay? He was the fucking mage!”

The party stood there for a few moments in astonished silence.

“Is... Is he okay? Is he safe?” Nott finally exclaimed.

Beau paused for a moment. “He's one of Ikithon's lackeys again. They brainwashed him.”

Beau looked up at the sky, trying to balance her tears so they wouldn't fall onto her cheeks. She thought, selfishly, she would rather he be dead like they assumed he had been, rather than this… human war machine.

Beau looked down to see Jester wrap her up in a tight hug, her tears staining Beau's vest.

Beau sighed and turned to Fjord, who was staring, eyes glazed over, into the distance. “I'm sorry, Jes.”

Fjord sighed, crossing his arms  
defensively. “So what do we do now?”

“What do you mean?” Jester asked, wiping her eyes.

“Is this quote-unquote 'important’?”

“What do you mean 'is this important?’ Of course it is! I mean, this is Caleb we're talking about here!” Nott exclaimed, trying, somewhat successfully, to size up Fjord.

“No, no, I don't-”

“I think what he means-” Caduceus suggested, putting his hand between the two. “Is whether this is going to be important from a military and/or political perspective.”

“Oh.” Nott paused for a moment. “Well, my point still stands.”

Fjord put his hands up. “So do we tell anybody?”

“Guys,” Beau interjected, rubbing her temples. “The Cobalt Soul is a neutral association. We have no affiliation with either country, we only seek to root out corruption and prevent lives from being lost.”

“But, just to play the devil's advocate here, which country are we all allowed to live in?” Fjord asked.

Beau looked around at the Xhorhassian landscape, ruined by war, but still beautiful. “Touché. But that doesn't mean that we need to tell them anything.”

“I mean, when Beau and I saw him he was really powerful!” Jester cried. “What if, like, he is teaching the Empire dunamancy or something?”

“He probably is.” Beau sighed.  
The party was silent for a few moments. 

“If we tell the Bright Queen about Caleb, they will kill him,” Nott said, gazing listlessly into the fire Caduceus had started for them. “He has no one to protect him anymore. Only secrecy.”

“But if he's teaching the folks from the Cerberus Assembly dunamancy the war will only escalate, taking even more lives. It’s been five years already.” Fjord responded. “We swore to stop more lives from being taken, this may be a responsibility on our shoulders.”

Jester frowned. “But we don't know that, right? I mean, it’s not like we saw him use it. He may have forgotten it when they brainwashed him!”

Beau knew that wasn't likely, but she didn't want to have to be her old friend's executioner, so she held her tongue.

“Here's a possible solution, if I may,” Caduceus said, pouring tea into small cups. “Simply for lack of information, we don't tell anyone anything. After all, Empire mages aren't so uncommon, so why do we need to tell them?” Caduceus handed a cup to Beau. He had long since run out of tea from the Grove and was now making due with what he could find in Xhorhas. “However,” he noted. “If we see him, or any other Empire mages for that matter, use what seems to be dunamancy, we tell the appropriate authorities. How does that sound?”

The Mighty Nein nodded their heads hesitantly. It was a compromise each could understand.

Caduceus looked to Beau. “Does this have your stamp of approval, Expositor Lionett?”

“What? Oh, yeah.” Sometimes it was hard for Beau to remember as the leader of the Cobalt Soul, she was also the de facto leader of her own party. “Sounds good, Caduceus.”

“Now, that was productive. Why don't we all get some rest for tonight.”

Beau nodded. “Sounds good. I'll take first watch.”

Jester leaned over. “Are you sure? I mean, after what you saw-”

“It's fine,” Beau snapped, a little more aggressively than she had meant. “I… won't be able to sleep much tonight anyways.”

As the rest of the Nein lay down to sleep, Beau sat and stared into the dying embers as fireflies blinked around her. 

What if she had saved him? What if she had grabbed him and refused to let go? What if she had saved him and brought him back to the Mighty Nein? Would he learn to love them as he once did? Or would he be a slave to the Cerberus Assembly forever? What if this had never happened in the first place? If they could have kept things the way they were? Caleb, Yasha, and Mollymauk all intact?

Beau didn't realize she had fallen asleep until she woke up with a blade held tight against her neck.

She tried to scream a warning before her body locked up and she was dropped to the ground.

She tried to struggle out of the magical restraints, but to no avail. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw two lanky figures simultaneously raise their arms and send a fireball exploding into her sleeping party members, waking them up in screams.

Out of the smoke, two crossbolts flew towards one of the figures, who blocked the first with a burst of green energy, only to have the second to sink into their chest. With the moment of distraction, Beau saw Fjord summon his falchion, blooming with wildflowers and wildlife before sinking it into the chest of the other assassin, who leaned back and summoned a giant spectral hand to pick him up and squeeze him until his green skin turned blue.

Beau again tried to struggle, pushing her legs and arms as far as she could, trying to shout and scream and yell, but she lay still on the ground, unmoving. Fuck.

She focused back to what she saw, a blur of magical bolts of energy being slung from both sides. One of the assassins sent a rumble of thunder through the ground, cutting of the nearby shrieks from Jester. In front of her Beau could see her symbol of the Traveler roll onto the ground. 

No. No no no. Beau struggled and struggled and struggled, trying with all her power to break free. It was not enough. She couldn't do anything more than hope.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on the back of her neck and her vision went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fight against the two assassins, the Mighty Nein find evidence that this attack may be big than what it seems...

When she woke up, Beau immediately tried to jump to her feet.

“Hold still,” The soft, rumbling voice of Caduceus commanded.

“Fuck you!” She cried out. “Oh, uh, sorry Caduceus.” She lay down as healing energy trickled into her wounds, stitching them together.

She lifted her head to see the rest of the party beaten, battered, and bruised, but most importantly, alive. At their feet lay the bloodied remains of the two assassins who decided to attack them.

“I'm sorry guys,” Beau whispered, wiping a mix of blood and mud off her cheek. “I'm fucking useless apparently.”

“Aw, you know that's not true. You can't win every fight,” Caduceus assured her before changing the subject. “Now, let's go see what these fellows have to say to us.”

Caduceus walked over to the bodies before organizing the necessary spell components on the ground in front of him. If Beau was grateful for anything, it was Caduceus's talent for getting people to stop talking shit about themselves. Over the years she had learned to accept that and not argue with him.

“Caduceus, wait.” Beau crouched beside him. “There's no way these guys are gonna just answer our questions. You gotta disguise yourself or something.”

“Oh, yes,” Caduceus sighed, pausing his spell preparation. “I suppose I hadn't thought about that yet. Fjord, could you come over here and give me a hand?”

“'Course.”

“Now, well, I think we need stop figure out who we're disguising ourselves as.” Caduceus pondered.

Beau pulled up the hood of the shorter assassin to reveal a young woman with dark skin and cropped black hair. “Teenagers.” Beau cringed. On her arms were familiar scars. “This is the work of the Cerberus Assembly.”

“So what are we disguising ourselves as?” Fjord questioned. “We don't know any of those inner-circle types, do we? Not well enough to impersonate them, at least.”

Beau sighed. “Yeah, we do.”

A wave of realization passed over the party.

“You don't think he's…” Fjord gestured “'Inner Party’, do you?”

“Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we?”

“I guess that's a gamble we have to take, huh?” Fjord looked over to Caduceus, who had finished preparing the materials, and nodded to him. Both their faces melded and shifted into new ones. Caduceus, a human with long blonde hair in the religious garb of the Platinum Dragon. Fjord, into the likeness of Caleb as Beau had last seen him.

Caduceus held out the limp head of one of corpses as Fjord spoke in a striking imitation of a Zemnian accent. Beau shivered at the likeness. The head animated, eyes lolling around in their sockets.

“I see you have failed your mission.” He puckered his lips. “This priest here will now find out exactly why you did so. Why don't you first tell him about your task?”

The mouth opened up, sending blood trickling down Caduceus's arm.

“We were to exterminate hostile enemies identified as The Mighty Nein, presiding in Xhorhas. Jester Lavorre, Nott, Fjord, Caduceus Clay, and Beauregard Lionett, and to return with any information we found.”

Caduceus nodded and shifted the head in his hand. “Of what was asked of you, what information did you find?”

“They lack the allyship of the human paladin of the Stormlord, said to wield the Fiend's Bane, and they wish to know of Master Ermendrud's usage of something called ‘Dunamancy.’”

Caduceus gave a quizzical look. “What does this mean, that this human paladin is not with them?”

“Our suspicions must be correct, this paladin must be living in hermitage somewhere near the City of Beasts.”

“How much were you told as to why you were sent on this mission?” Caduceus questioned.

“Master Ermendrud only said that they must be exterminated as fast as possible for the well being of the Assembly, and the Fiend’s Bane must be returned.”

“I see. One final question before I let you rest. Do you believe that more forces should be sent to exterminate these people?”

“Yes, and with the fervency Master Ermendrud showed as he told us our task, as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, you may return to your rest now.” Caduceus set the corpse back onto the ground as it became still once more before dropping his disguise and turning towards Beau. “We have to go. Now.”

Beau shuddered. “What the hell is a ‘Fiend’s Bane?’”

“Clearly something quite important to them. It would be wise to reach it before they do.”

Beau nodded grimly, looking to her friends. “We leave at dawn for Asarius, then.”

“But its Empire territory now,” Fjord interjected. “As far as we're concerned, enemy territory.”

“I know.” Beau sighed. “But it’s a risk we have to take. Besides, Dairon's running things out there, they should give us some measure of safety.”

“Yeah,” Jester said, putting a hand on Fjord's shoulder. “It's called, like, the City of Beasts or whatever. It’s not like the people living there are gonna be super happy about living under the Empire. Maybe they'll help us!”

Fjord mulled the thought over in his mind. “Still risky, but that's a good point.”

“Either way, we're gonna have to get outta here before the Scourgers find us and lock us up,” Nott added.

Beau ran her fingers through the hair. “At this point, I don't think we have much of a choice. I think… I think we should go back to sleep.”

With that, the rest of the party nodded and settled down, waiting sleeplessly for dawn.

The next morning, the Mighty Nein packed and moved quickly south along the edges of Xhorhas and its ruined landscapes. As they journeyed, word of more assassinations from Scourgers reached their ears, but with no specifications as to who was attacked. They snuck through the battlelines and were soon within Empire territory. While the rest of her party disguised themselves, Beau pulled up her hood and hoped she wouldn't be noticed. 

As they neared the edges of The City of Beasts, the city seemed to be tightly controlled by Empire soldiers without a beast in sight. All of the Mighty Nein appearing to be human (or halfling, in Nott's case) and willing to pay bribes, they were let in without too much interrogation. Within the walls, humans, elves, halflings, and the occasional dwarf all bustled about in military garb, the old houses and buildings turned into barracks for the soldiers.

“Uh, Beau?” Jester whispered. “Where are all the monsters and stuff? This is really weird.”

Beau furrowed her brow. “Dunno. Let's find Dairon and get out of here, they would know.”

Beau lead them to a large building that secretly housed many members of the Cobalt Soul, the symbol of Ioun hanging from a small chain, and walked up to where she expected Dairon's room to be.

“Dairon?” She whispered. “It's Beau.” She opened the door to see an empty cot and parts of the room rummaged about. “Damn. Not here.”

“Dairon!” Nott called out, opening and closing all the doors, but nobody answered. Finally, an older halfling woman holding a small lit candle made her way up the stairs.

“You're looking for Dairon?” She inquired.

“Uh, yeah. We really need to talk to her.” Beau answered before holding out her hand. “Expositor Lionett.”

The woman's eyes grew wide before shaking Beau's hand with an aggressive grip. “Leata Rinori, pleasure to finally meet you!”

Beau pulled her hand back, massaging it a bit. “Yes. Now, what's happened with Dairon?”

Leata retreated into herself, glancing around the room. “She's… not here.”

Beau shook her head. “Yeah, I got that. Do you know where she is? How many Expositors are here right now?”

“Well, it was just me and them before…” Her voice trailed off.

“Before what?” Beau snapped.

Leata took a deep breath. “She was attacked while out on a mission deeper into the Empire. Scourgers. Not even a day's travel from here.”

“I assume she's recovering?”

“Well… no. We believe she was killed.”

Beau's heart raced. “Believe or know? Because there is no way she would have been… I mean they… Dairon wouldn't…”

“I'm sorry, Miss Lionett.” Leata turned away and started walking towards the staircase before Beau grabbed her arm.

“They're not fucking dead! They can't be!” Beau said, forcing her own tears back.

Jester put a hand on her shoulder. “Beau, I'm so-” Beau ripped herself away, glaring towards Leata.

“Her body is being sent back to her family,” Leata croaked, wiping away fresh tears.

“Why did nobody go with her? Everyone knows going deep into the Empire is dangerous! This wouldn't have happened if-”

“Beau. Stop.” Jester commanded softly, grabbing her hand. “It's not this lady's fault.”  
Beau watched as Leata scurried away, shoulders hunched. “Shut up.” She brushed past her into the bedroom where she laid down onto Dairon's old cot.

“Those pieces of shit!” She cried out, punching the floor. 

“Beau, stop it!” Jester screamed. Beau ignored her, sending her fists flying into the ground, breaking the wood into tiny flecks of power covered in her own blood. Finally, she collapsed onto the cot in exhaustion.

“You wanna know why there are bugbears, or goblins, or hobgoblins here? The Empire fucking killed them, just like they killed Dairon.”

“Beau…”

“It just doesn't make sense! This is cruel, even for the Empire. To cleanse an area of people you deem monstrous and then to…”

“Beau!”

“No! Let me try and… figure this out! It's the only way I can feel better!”

“That's not true, Beau,” Jester said firmly. “I know you're this whole big investigator and stuff, but you need to let yourself be sad. Cry, if you have to.”

“Do you think it was Caleb?” Beau whispered.

“What?”

“Caleb. Or well, I guess he wants to go by Bren now. The Cerberus Assembly has always hated The Cobalt Soul. And apparently he's now some big guy there. This could be his doing! He couldn't kill me so he goes and kills my mentor who he knows I'm close with!”

“I…”

Beau strutted up to Fjord. “Fjord, you’re pretty logical. Tell me honestly you don't think this might be the case.”

He put his hands up defensively. “I mean… it’s not impossible I suppose.”

“Fjord!” Jester yelled, flicking him in the arm.

“Ow!”

“Caleb's a nice boy! He wouldn't do such a thing!” Nott exclaimed.

“Well, how do you fuckin’ know, huh? He killed his parents! He did that! What makes you think he can't kill some monk he barely knew?” Beau said, looking straight into Nott's eyes. “It's not like he cares about us anymore!”

“But why would he?” Jester asked. “Just to make a statement?”

“Exactly!” Beau yelled. “Exactly to make a statement! That's what the Assembly has been doing since the beginning! What part of this don't you fucking get?”

Jester's eyes began to water. “We can't just make assumptions, you know? Like, remember that one time when Yasha turned on us? We were all making assumptions but actually-”

Beau's blood ran cold. “Don't fucking talk about her,” She whispered before pushing Caduceus out of the doorway and running out. Behind her, she heard Jester break into sobs. She didn't care, or at least she pretended that she didn't. 

She ran. For miles and miles, outside the walls of the city, into the abandoned plains surrounding it, away from her grief, away from her tears, away from comfort. She didn't plan on stopping until she literally toppled over in exhaustion onto the rocky edges of an abandoned cave.

She looked down and her feet were covered in blood, dirt, and sweat from the sun beating overhead. Fucking dry season. She wiped her forehead and forced herself up and into the shade of the mine. She looked around to see a small pool of water around 30 feet into the cave. Her throat dry and cracking, she hobbled to the back and plunged her face into the cool water, letting herself relax for a moment.

She looked up to scan the cavern. Stalactites and stalagmites crowded around the floor and ceiling, with caved-in stones making up the walls. In the distance, the sounds of squeaking bats echoed through the space. Through the darkness, Beau could make out two small points of reddish light in the distance. It seemed… unnatural.

Beau creeped towards the points of light, careful not to trip over the rocks or step in the guano. As she moved backwards, the back wall of the cavern, tall and massive, appeared strangely flat. As she looked back towards where she came, Beau noticed that the path descended deeper into the cave, and that she could no longer see the exit to the outside, with only a faint bit of sunlight shining in.

As she approached the back wall, the unnatural points of light on the wall, placed close to each other, illuminated what seemed to be some sort of carving of a grotesque face, twisted in pain.

Beau searched through her pockets and found a small matchbox. Hands shaking, she lit the match and held it up to the carving. As she did, the entire wall was illuminated by the flame.

A circle of humanoids, some with swords and others with books, surrounding a horrible creature with horns and hellish fury in it’s eyes, ripping off the head of one of them, ready to devour it. In the background, imagery of war and destruction while fiends watch over, delirious with joy. Beau recognized this beast as a Balor, the generals of fiends. The humanoids surrounding this beast had blank expressions, with no clue as to if they were summoning this beast, or fighting it, or… something else.

At the bottom of the relief, a few words were scratched in abyssal. Beau brought her match to the words and began to read what she could recognize from her recent study of the language.

When The Land of Monsters is Civil Once More.

Beau gasped. “What the hell?” She desperately searched the rest of the wall for anything else, but it was nothing more than more pictures of hellish destruction. She took out a crumpled piece of paper and charcoal and proceeded to attempt to copy what she saw to the best of her ability. As soon as she finished, she ran out of the cave as fast as she could, over boulders and bats and stalagmites, out into the dry summer air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Following the well known and over used trope of killing the mentor character? Never!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr at jesteries!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mighty Nein discuss the meaning of their recent discovery and look for a surprising ally.

Beau sprinted across the cracked, scarred landscape of Western Xhorhas, sun beating down over her head. Her feet beat the burnt clay beneath her, carrying her North to Asarius. As she ran, her stomach started twisting in the familiar pain of hunger. She ran her hands through her pockets, searching for any crumbs of food she may have stored there and cursing when she couldn’t find any. She was utterly exhausted, but she reached into her ki and steeled her will, forcing herself to find her friends again before the sun set. 

As the sun dipped below the distant silhouettes of the Ashkeeper Peaks, Beau finally collapsed at the door of the Cobalt Soul, pounding on it from the outside. Hurried footsteps sounded from the inside and the door opened, revealing a very tense Nott.

“Beau! Where were you? We were worried sick!” Nott cried, helping her up and closing the door behind them.

“I…” Beau grunted in pain.

“Don’t hurt yourself, now.” Nott gently helped her to a cot.

“I’m fine, Nott,” Beau grumbled, heart still racing.

“Oh, you’re really sweaty, Beau,” Jester noted, rushing into the room. Beau rolled her eyes. She loved her, but the girl did not have much of a knack for timing. Beau forced herself up onto her side as the rest of the Mighty Nein trickled in.

“So, I may have found something,” She explained, fishing through her pockets to find the copy of the relief she found in the cave. She unfolded it and placed in onto the ground for all to see.

“What is that?” Fjord exclaimed.

“Found it. In a cave a couple hours walk from here.”

“Is this-?”

“A balor? I think so. Pretty sure it said ‘when the land of monsters is civil once more’ in abyssal at the bottom, although my grasp on the language is pretty rusty.”

“Oh, this is bad. Really bad,” Caduceus murmured, squinting at the drawing. Beau’s breath caught. If Caduceus was worried, something was extremely wrong.

“Should we be worried?” Nott whimpered. “I mean, if they’re referring to Asarius, then now would be the time this ‘balor’-guy or whoever starts showing up. No ‘monsters’ here at all anymore.”

“Well, that’s what I’m worried about.” Beau sighed.

“What’s this sword here for?” Jester asked, pointing towards one of the figures holding a large greatsword, the only item that seemed to have been included in the relief.

“I’m… not sure,” Beau answered honestly.

“Maybe it has something to do with that ‘Fiend’s Bane’ we heard about,” Fjord offered.

“Well, if it’s the Fiend’s Bane, then maybe this is a good thing?” Jester suggested.

“Maybe, but why would there be all these demons here, dancing and laughing?” Nott asked.

“So… we don’t know?” Beau sighed. “All I know is that whatever the hell that sword is, I want it before our enemies get it.”

“And who exactly are our enemies in this scenario?” Caduceus asked.

“I don’t know, but it can’t be us, can it?” She looked around to the rest of the group.

“Well, let’s get that sword before we’re forced to find out.” Nott said. “Not all prophecies have to come true, right? Maybe we can stop it.”

“But how, Nott?” Jester asked.

“Easy. Those assassins were talking about a human paladin of the Stormlord! There can't be too many of those guys around here, especially during the dry season! Whew!”

“Unfortunately, that isn't quite specific enough,” Caduceus said. “I mean, we don't really have much in the way of a location, only the hope that they might be somewhere in this general area.”

“We… could ask around?” Nott shrugged her shoulders.

“Banned god. Our covers would be blown in a minute.” Beau flopped back onto the cot.

“Darn.” 

“So what do we do?” Jester asked.

“Well,” Fjord sighed. “The Cobalt Soul is probably the best place to be if we need to find someone or something, so let's try and use our contacts wisely. Jester, you try and send out some messages to people who may be more knowledgeable on this topic than we are. You’re good at that.”

“Got it, Fjord!”

“The rest of us, we should search the library here. Take note of anything you find that even hints to a clue that could be useful.”

Everyone in the room nodded.

“Well, what are we waiting for?”

Caduceus helped ferry potentially useful books from the local Library to Beau, Fjord, and Nott, who speed read them for any nuggets of information, while Jester sat in a corner, sending out messages in hopes of receiving help. 

It was boring, tedious work long into the oppressive night. Beau was grateful for it, if only to distract her from her still painful grief. However, that didn't make her any less bored as she skimmed her way through the thousand-page behemoth that was “Wildemount's Sages: Biographies of the Influential Religious Leaders of Wildemount”, especially when there seemed to be no mention of any human paladin of the Stormlord living in hermitage.

Finally, after several hours, Jester piped up in complaint. “Beau! I'm out of spell slots!”

“But I thought you had a lot now?” Beau whined.

“Not that many!”

“Well, did you find any useful information?”

Jester shook her head no.

Beau turned to the rest on the ground, their noses stuck in various tomes. “What about you guys, anything?”

“Sorry,” Fjord said. “Nothing here.”

“Same here,” Nott piped up.

“Haven't found much, either.” Caduceus sighed.

“Well, fuck.” Beau fell back onto the cot in exhaustion.

“Well, look on the bright side!” Jester exclaimed. “If we can't find much, than that means the Empire probably can't either!”

“Who knows?” Beau threw her hands up in the air in defeat.

“Come on, you guys aren't just going to give up over something so simple as lack of information?” Caduceus shook his head. “You guys are smart, I'm sure you can figure something out.”

Beau leaned her brow onto her hand. “No. Caduceus, this isn't a choice. We cannot find this paladin. It’s impossible with the resources we have at our disposal.”

Caduceus frowned. “Impossible is a strong word.”

“Well, if you wanna go ask the Wildmother or the Traveler or whoever the fuck, go right ahead,” Beau paused for a moment. “I'm gonna sleep outside.”

“O… kay,” Jester said slowly.

Beau dragged her cot outside onto the small balcony and stared at the sky. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew it had been dark for several hours at this point. She looked up at the sky, unusually dark with no moon in sight. She took a deep breath.

“Hey… Stormlord.” Nothing. “Been a while, huh?” Beau tried to laugh. “Anyways, uh, my friends and I… we really, really need to find this paladin person who has the Fiend's Bane. Otherwise, well, we're worried that some… less kind people might find them first and try and summon demons with it or something. Anyways, it would be really helpful if you could give us a hand here for once. Thanks.”

Beau sat cross-legged, eyes closed, trying to clear her mind and focus on her prayer, even if she was sure the Stormlord would not answer. This was not the first time Beau had asked the Stormlord for help in finding one of his followers. Someone much more important to her, and he had not been so helpful then, what makes this time any different?

As she sat there, she was keenly aware of the light breeze blowing on her brow, blowing away flecks of dirt and sand that remained from her journey that day. The air around her was dry and silent, save for her rhythmic breathing. The ground beneath her, made of wooden planks, was solid, safe, unmoving, and-

Suddenly, a roar of thunder ripped through the air around her and a sheet of cool rain started to pelt her from above. Towards the south, a spear of lightning struck the parched ground in the distance, followed by more thunder.  
Beau jumped to her feet, peering out into the distance. Another bolt of lightning struck the same place she had seen it strike before, only a little further out. This was a thunderstorm unlike any she had seen in years.

Behind her, the rest of the Mighty Nein crowded their way onto the balcony, staring at the sky.

“Beau! What's going on?” Jester exclaimed.

“It's a sign from the Stormlord,” Beau whispered, in awe of the sight before her. “We have to follow it!” She slicked back her wet hair and ran inside, gathering all her worldly possessions before dashing outside. “Come on, guys!”

The rest of the group followed suit, joining her outside before setting off through the streets of Asarius and into the plains surrounding it.

Each time they walked further South, another bolt would flash further in the distance, guiding them along a path.

Normally, Beau would hate travelling in such an oppressive storm, even for something so important, but something about this storm didn't bother her in the slightest. Each droplet of rain that fell washed away a little bit of the worry she had been carrying on her shoulders that day, steeling her resolve to keep pushing through the thunder and lightning- and her own exhaustion.

The storm roiled on until the morning, shielding the piercing gaze of the sun with a mantle of deep grey. The Mighty Nein kept pushing, through the plains and into a forest, keeping their eyes on the sky and the bolt of lightning that seemed to strike just over every hill. By the delay of the thunder, they seemed to be getting closer as they trekked through the thickening forest, seemingly devoid of humanoid life and untouched by the war.

Finally, as they seemed to reach the deepest part of the forest, a flash of bright, white light consumed the gargantuan tree in front of them, thunder rumbling through the ground. Behind the tree stood a small marble building, with the symbol of the Stormlord etched onto the door.

Beau stood up tall. “This is it.” She opened the door, leading her companions down a long spiral of stairs heading below the ground, exiting into a long, dark hallway. The group instinctively came together, preparing themselves for any signs of danger. Finally, the hallway opened up into a sanctum, filled with candles and incense burning all over the walls. At the far wall, facing away from them, stood a tall, muscular woman with thick, braided, white hair.

Beau took a deep breath. “Hello?”

The woman whipped around, revealing a beautiful face painted with dark, colorful paint; a warm, familiar face. “Beau?”

Yasha.

The room was filled with silence for what seemed like forever, as they stared at each other in shock before Jester finally broke the silence.

“Yasha!” Jester cried, running up to her and pulling her into a tight squeeze. Nott quickly followed, wrapping her small, green arms around her thigh. Caduceus lead a hesitant Fjord up to give her a hug as well. Beau was frozen in place, unable to move, standing miles away.

“Oh, wow!” Yasha gasped, hugging each of them back in turn. “I missed you guys so much!”

“You're… you're not evil or anything, right?” Fjord asked hesitantly. 

Yasha shook her head. “Well, let me show you.” She stood back and closed her eyes, and out from her back emerged a pair of white, feathered wings, glimmering in the candlelight.

“They grew back!” Jester exclaimed in amazement. “You guys, she is definitely good.”

Yasha looked a little sad. “I guess… I guess there was a bit of doubt, wasn't there?”

“Well, yeah,” Fjord said. “You kinda just… you know…”

“Yeah, I know.” She looked sheepishly to the ground. “Well, I… I guess I owe you an explanation.”

“Do tell.”

“Well, I spent nearly… nearly a year with the Laughing Hand. Killing people and… well, I think you get the idea. I… I was not entirely myself at the time. I was under the influence of Obann, trapped within my own mind. I'm embarrassed by how long it took for me to break free. When I finally did, I… I was so weak, but the Stormlord saved me again. Ever since, I have been here, serving him.”

Caduceus smiled. “Well, we're happy to have you with us again.”

“Oh and we can tell you everything that's happened to us! So much! I mean there was a dragon, there was a bunch of wizards, we went to the EMPIRE-” Nott exclaimed.

Yasha grinned “Yes, I think that would be nice.” She quickly glanced over to Beau, still standing alone, arms folded across her chest. “Is… is everything okay?”

“Oh, me?” Beau put on a fake smile. “Yeah, totally. Nice… nice to see you again.” She looked at the ground and frowned.

Yasha backed up, finally releasing herself from Jester's tight hug. “Well, I had a dream last night. From The Stormlord. He showed me a vision of this sword that I take care of… The Fiend's Bane.”

Nott jumped up. “That's what we're looking for! The Fiend’s Bane thing! We need to see it.”  
Fjord scratches this head. “Funny… they told us a human paladin watched over it. Simple miscommunication I guess.”

“Would you like to see it?” Yasha offered.

“Fuck yes!” Nott yelled.

Yasha pointed back behind her, where a small, dark chamber lay. The Mighty Nein filtered into the room, bounce in their step. Yasha was about to follow behind before she looked back to see that Beau hadn't moved.

“Do you want to see it, Beau?”

Beau looked up. “Oh, um, yeah. Totally.” She started walking towards the chamber before Yasha put her hand out.

“I don't mean to pry, but I… did I do something wrong?” A pained expression was on her face.

“No.” Beau stood still. Yasha looked towards the ground. Beau sighed. “It's not your fault, okay? I'm just being a little immature, that's all.”

“Then please tell me. I swore an oath to The Stormlord that I would rectify every mistake I have made.”

Beau shook her head. “That's not the issue, Yasha. It’s just… five years. Five years. We thought you were dead!”

Yasha's face fell. “The Laughing Hand-”

“I know that. But the other four years? I- we- were miserable. We couldn't even find one of our teammates and closest friends, how could we possibly stop a possible war between the planes? What good could you have possibly been doing, stuck in a tiny shack in the middle of nowhere? At the very least you could have told us something, anything, just so we knew you were even alive. But no, I was left thinking I had lost you.” Beau scrunched her face. “We were left thinking…” She took a deep breath. “Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn’t be making this about myself. I just… don't understand.”

Yasha stared into her eyes. “I'm sorry, Beau. I guess… part of me was afraid that you would never forgive me for what I did. I wanted… I wanted to forgive myself first.”

Beau shook her head. “There’s no universe where we wouldn't have forgiven you, know that.”

Yasha smiled, but it quickly faded once more. “I, um… where's Caleb?”

Beau froze up once more. “Believe it or not, he seems to have 'risen from the dead’ recently, much like you.”

Yasha frowned. “What happened?”

“Well, a couple years ago… we were cocky. We thought we could stop the war. You know, he always talked about 'taking out the cancer’. We wanted to take down the Cerberus Assembly by taking down Ikithon and his followers. We knew this was dangerous, so we hid ourselves in every way we could think of. Fake names, disguises, alibis. But… it wasn't enough. Astrid and Eodwulf, two of his old classmates, they found us. They were remarkably powerful. They would have killed us if Caleb hadn't sacrificed himself to save us. We hated ourselves for it, but we ran away. We haven't returned to Rexxentrum since.”

“But he's not dead?” Yasha asked, starting to breathe heavily.

“No. We didn't hear anything from him either, so we all had different theories as to what had really happened. But a few days ago, we saw him again. He's an Empire war mage. Believes everything he's heard from those fucking bastards, too. He tried to kill us.”

Yasha put her hand over her mouth. “I did it again, didn't I?”

“What do you mean?”

“I ran away again. I tried to save myself but instead I caused all of you to suffer, and Caleb…” Yasha curled into herself, her eyes watering. “This is just like what happened with Zuala. I… I thought this was the right thing. I really did. You all should hate me.”

Beau grabbed her trembling wrist, but didn't say anything for a long while. “I'm not going to lie and say that you didn't make a mistake.” Yasha covered her face with her hands, quaking even more. Beau noticed a gold ring on her middle finger, the ring of protection she had given her years ago. She softened a bit. “But hey, we don't hate you. We might be disappointed but you can fix that by joining us again.”

Yasha looked up to Beau's face, her muscular shoulders still once more. “After all this… you still want me to join you?”

“More than anything.”

Then Yasha smiled. A beaming, radiant smile that filled the room with light and warmth.   
Suddenly, Beau's heart felt lighter as well, and she couldn't help but smile as well. Their smiles tumbled into laughter. Loud, raucous laughter that could not be quenched. Yasha wrapped her arms around Beau, pulling her into a warm embrace.

“I missed ya, Yash.” Beau hugged her back.

“Beau! Yasha!” Jester's voice echoed from inside the chamber. “Come look at this!”

Beau broke from the hug and looked once more to Yasha. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let's fuck up some demons!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for dropping by and reading! This is my first fanfiction I've written in a while, so please drop a comment if you enjoyed! I plan to post roughly once a week. Thanks!


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